When Google released Google Maps for iOS in December, it also announced an SDK that iOS developers could use to implement Google Maps in their apps rather than Apple's mapping solution.

Tonight, Google announced an updated Maps SDK that adds ground overlay support and makes API keys available to all developers via the Google API Console. Previously, developers had to register and wait to be granted access to keys.

Now that keys are freely available, it's likely that more developers will use Google Maps in their apps. Some developers may decide to allow users to choose between Google and Apple's maps, much like the recently released Sunrise calendar app.

Google has also included a sample app in the SDK that developers can use to learn how to use Google Maps in their apps and released a video (above) demonstrating some of the SDK's features.

What upgrade? There's been only one release of Google Maps and it has transit directions for Australia according to Google's website. Apple Maps lost built-in transit directions in the iOS 6 update not Google Maps.

Wow google sure works fast when they are totally cut off from stock iOS.

Goes to show that they do not have our best interest in mind.

Google never developed the stock iOS app, nor did Apple give them any advance warning on its demise. If Apple Maps wasn't such a disaster, I doubt Apple would even have allowed apps to use competing maps services.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by lwapps

Very true! Although I do fail to see how Google profit from making a maps application which makes their competitors phone a lot more valuable.

Advertising. It's Google's bread and butter. Far more valuable than Android or any of their hardware.

That's good, but I do hope it's a choice. I wouldn't want to be forced to use one map over the other. For example in the US, Google maps is great but in China, Apple maps seems to have more up to date maps and POIs.

Google never developed the stock iOS app, nor did Apple give them any advance warning on its demise. If Apple Maps wasn't such a disaster, I doubt Apple would even have allowed apps to use competing maps services.

Since Apple was paying Google major amounts of money every year for Google Maps (high eight or low nine digits), and stopped paying a penny to Google for map data since, I doubt that Google didn't know about this.

Since Apple was paying Google major amounts of money every year for Google Maps (high eight or low nine digits), and stopped paying a penny to Google for map data since, I doubt that Google didn't know about this.